Fork cleaners



United States Patent FORK CLEANERS Mary J. McDonald, Arlington, Mass. Application March 28, 1952, Serial No. 279,002

1 Claim. c1. 1s--210 My present invention relates to utensil cleaning devices, and more particularly to an improved cleansing device for cleansing forks, combs, and other like tined instruments.

An object of my invention is an improved cleansing devise for forks, combs, or other tined or toothed cleaning device. Another object of my invention is an improved cleaning device in which a plurality of substantially parallelly arranged tines or teeth may be cleaned simultaneously.

A further object is an improved cleansing device having a plurality of parallelly arranged cleaning strips spaced apart from each other and with said cleaning strips held under tension during the cleaning operation.

Other objects and novel features of the device will appear as the description of the operation of the devices progresses.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating one embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view, taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. .l, and looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the clamping members for holding the tine cleaning members in operating position and under tension.

Referring to the drawings, designates an elongated box, or similar container, and divided into [two compartments 11 and 12, respectively, by the partition 13. This partition 13 is shorter in length, or height, than the side or end members of the elongated box 10. Also, the box 10 is provided with a cover 14, hingedly mounted on the rear wall of the elongated box 10-as viewed in Fig. 2 by means of the hinges 15. Also, at one end of the outer face of the bottom of the box is secured a member 16, provided with a hole 17 and by means of which the entire device may be hung on a wall or other structure when the device is not in use.

In each corner of the compartment 11 and perpendicular with respect to the bottom of such compartment 11 is secured, in any suitable manner, the corner posts 18. Each of the corner posts 18 has secured therein a pin 19, these pins 19 lying parallel to each other and substantially parallel to the inner face of the end wall and partition 13 of the elongated box 10.

In Fig. 4 is shown a perspective view of an anchoring member 20 adapted to cooperate with the corner posts 18. This member 20 is provided on one face, or edge, with a plurality of grooves 21 and with vertically arranged perforations 22 to enable the member 20 to engage with the pins 19 and position the said members 20 on the tops of the corner posts 18.

Secured to and extending upwardly from the bottom of the box 10, parallel to and in alignment with the corner posts at the ends of the compartment 11 are pins 23, spaced apart from each other the distance between adjacent grooves 21 of the member 20. The pins 23 are anchored at their lower ends to the bottom of the compartment 11, and the upper ends are therefore free.

Mounted on the free ends of the pins 23 are the tine cleaning elements. These elements are comprised generally of a rectangular strip of canvas or other suitable fabric 24, having formed at each end, as by sewing, an elongated loop 25. The strips of fabric 24 may have applied to their surfaces any suitable cleansing agent.

In assembling the elements of the device, the strips of fabric 24 have the loops 25 thereof sleeved over the pins 23, as shown in Figs. 1 to 3, and one of the members 20 is engaged onto the pins 19 by aligning the perforations 22 with the pins 19. The other member 20 is [then placed in proper relation on the pins 19 and the strips of fabric 24 are then put under tension until the holes 22 come into registry with the pins 19 at the other end of the compartment 11.

The strips of fabric 24 lie parallel to each other, and the spacing between adjacent strips of fabric 24 is substantially equal to the spacing between the tines of the fork or other similar tool or instrument. By sliding the fork back and forth along the length of the strips of fabric 24, the tines of the fork are quickly and thoroughly cleaned.

What I claim as new is:

A tine cleaning device for forks and the like, comprising, a compartment, substantially rectangular in form, a vertically arranged post secured at each corner of the compartment, and each provided at its upper end with a fixed pin, a plurality of upstanding other pins, lying parallel to said fixed pins, and with the lower ends anchored in the bottom of the compartment, a plurality of strips of cleaning fabric removably secured at their ends on the upper portion of said other pins, and means at each end of said compartment and engaging with the upper end of said other pins to place the strips under tension, and to engage with the upper ends of the first-mentioned pins of the corner posts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,152,168 Gast Aug. 31, 1915 1,228,221 Kordina May 29, 1917 1,412,960 Gran Apr. 18, 1922 1,745,669 Gul-ton Feb. 4, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS 14,522 Great Britain A. D. 1910 24,089 Great Britain A. D. 1895 29,913 Great Britain Dec. 17, 1897 34,939 Sweden Jan. 4, 1913 88,746 Germany Mar. 12, 1896 438,012 Great Britain Nov. 8, 1935 

